


Strangers by the River

by Nigaki



Series: Wild and Soft [6]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Agent Milton and Ross too, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Chapter 2: Horseshoe Overlook (Red Dead Redemption 2), Dutch Has A Plan, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fishing, Idiots in Love, M/M, Micah is a dick, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but its a bad one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 11:12:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24470020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nigaki/pseuds/Nigaki
Summary: It's John's turn to take care of Jack so why did Arthur ended up taking him fishing?
Relationships: John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Series: Wild and Soft [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687138
Comments: 5
Kudos: 58





	Strangers by the River

“Arthur.”

Arthur snored louder, hoping that whoever was calling him would leave him alone. For once he had enough free time for a nap, he had no plans involving helping anyone.

“Arthur.”

The voice was more urgent this time. Arthur considered answering but after a second or two decided to ignore it just like the last one. They can ask someone else for a favor.

“Arthur!”

A hard kick to a shin caused him to yell in pain and curl around himself. Hissing through gritted teeth, he looked angry at the person that woke him up so violently.

It was just John.

“What do you want?” he groaned and rubbed his sleepy eyes. “I was taking a nap.”

“Yeah, I could see that.”

Arthur picked up his hat that fell of his head when John kicked him. He placed it back where it belonged and covered his eyes to fall asleep again, but omega just snatched it and threw it somewhere behind himself.

“Hey!” Arthur protested with a growl. John just ignored it and sat next to him, practically snuggling to him already. He knew that trick, his mate liked to act sweet when he wanted something. Unfortunately, it always worked on Arthur.

“Wake up, you lazy bastard,” John told him and smiled. Arthur already knew he lost so he sighed and reached to his pocket for a smoke.

“What do you want?”, he repeated his question before placing cigarette in his mouth.

“I know it’s my turn to take care of Jack but I forgot to buy one thing needed for our robbery,” John explained, lighting up the cigarette for Arthur. He was really pushing it and he must’ve known as well that his alpha couldn’t say no to him. “Can you keep an eye on him for few hours?”

“I was taking care of him yesterday, from sunrise to dusk,” Arthur complained and rubbed his eyes again. He was really hoping for a calm day, especially since two days ago he almost got shot while stealing an oil wagon for their plan. John looked at him with a frown. Arthur sighed again. “But I guess it’s the price one have to pay for having a kid.”

“Exactly,” John cheered him up and jumped back to his feet. “I’m only going to Valentine, shouldn’t take long, then I’ll take Jack from you.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Arthur assured him. “I love that kid, I don’t mind spending time with him.”

“You better not,” John threatened jokingly and bend down to kiss him goodbye. Arthur smiled at his mate. “Just don’t get into trouble.”

“It’s more your thing than mine.”

Arthur laughed, when John huffed before climbing his horse. Old Boy was already prepared for the ride, how the hell did John managed to do that without him waking up, Arthur had no idea.

He waited till his omega despaired among the trees before he stood up, tossed the half burnt cigarette on the ground and looked around for Jack. The boy was sitting in their tent, bored out of his mind. Arthur approached him with a playful smile, picking up his hat on the way.

“What you up to?” he asked and placed the hat on the table. Jack looked away from his book that Hosea gave him to teach him reading. They were practicing every noon but Jack wasn’t getting better at all. He reminded Arthur of John, who had the same troubles at first. With each day, Jack was showing even more resemblances to his Pa.

“Uncle Hosea told me to try to read one page,” Jack explained. “He’ll ask me what it was about later.”

Arthur turned around and looked at his father that was napping at the table. How he envied him right now.

“I’m sure Uncle Hosea won’t mind if we disappear for an hour or two,” he told his son who immediately beamed at him, thankful for dismissing him from such a boring task like reading. “What do you say we go fishing, eh?”

“Yeah!” Jack jumped from the chair and rushed to the chest by the bed that contained, among other things, Jack’s fishing rod. Arthur always kept his on the saddle.

“Then come one!” Jack ran after him the moment Arthur grabbed his saddle and headed towards his horse. “Before they catch all our fish!”

They passed by Hosea who was now awake and looking at Arthur with disappointment. Arthur just shrugged his shoulders. He would gladly let Jack finish his lesson, but watching a child trying to read was too much for his patience. He learned that the hard way with John. Then again, he never let John skip his reading lessons in the past, hell he even dragged him back couple of times when this little rat tried to run away from it.  _ I guess forcing your own child is different _ , he thought while putting the saddle on Snowstorm.

Jack waited excited near him, jumping in place and giggling. Arthur couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright, I climb first and then I’ll help you.” Snowstorm was very calm and patient when he scooped Jack up and placed him in front of himself. “Ready?”

“Yeah!”

Arthur wrapped a hand around boy’s middle so he couldn’t fall and then clicked with his tongue at Snowstorm who slowly left the camp.

“So where are we going?” Jack asked when they passed Lenny on they way down the hill.

“Just down to the river near here.” Arthur answered and made Snowstorm change her pace to a trot. “We shouldn’t go too far from camp.”

Jack rarely left camp anyway, but whenever he did, it was never really far and there was always someone with him. The world was still too dangerous for such a small boy, he needed constant protection from dangerous people or wild animals that would eat him with one bite. Arthur and John weren’t paranoid, they knew nothing bad could really happen close to the gang, but if it ever would, they wanted to be close to the camp to get quick help if needed. 

“Oh, okay.”

“You feeling better? You scared me and Pa with that cough few days ago.”

It was just a small cold, but even something that simple could kill a child and Jack already scared them once with sickness, so they weren’t risking it this time. Poor boy spend almost whole week in a boring bed instead of playing but at least he lived. They would never forgive themselves if Jack wouldn’t make it.

“Oh, I’m fine,” his son assured, looking around curiously. This was the first time he left their camp in Horseshoe. He probably didn’t see much on their way here, he was curled around feverish John the whole ride from the mountains.

“You’re a brave kid.”

“So just like you and Pa.”

Arthur smiled.

“Well, I don’t know about brave… We ain’t exactly kids no more. We never really was.”

He hoped that Jack would never have to go through what he and John went as kids. So far they’re doing a good job. Their son was surrounded by people that loved and cared for him, he had a roof above his head and his belly was never empty, even if Arthur and John’s sometimes had to be to keep it that way. 

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just talking silly.” This wasn’t the best time to explain that, and certainly not to a four years old. “It’s been a tough few weeks up in that snow.”

“I liked the snow.”

Arthur softly took Jack’s hand from Snowstorm’s mane when he started tugging at it.

“Yes, but not like that.”

“When are we going back to the other camp?” Jack twisted his head and looked up at him.

“The one near Blackwater?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… we’re not. This is our spot, for now, anyway. Why?”

Jack didn’t particularly liked Blackwater, it was okay, Arthur was curious why the kid missed it so much.

“I forgot a storybook there.” Of course it was about a book. “We left so quick.”

It was a mess and ‘quick’ couldn’t fully describe the rush they were in. The moment the gang returned from a ferry job, incomplete at that, Dutch told them to pack, that they were leaving. Arthur hadn’t even had time to check on John whose arm was bleeding, ask about Mac and Sean who didn’t return or what’s with Davey who was already unconscious.

Five minutes later the gang was on their way to Grizzlies, with confused Jack on the back of one of the wagon. There was still a lot of stuff left when they were leaving, no wonder a single book was left as well, Arthur wasn’t really thinking about it when he packed his family’s possession with the help of Tilly. He was more worried about keeping his son safe and about John who was very pale and barely sitting on his horse. 

“Well, I’m sure me or Pa can get you another book.” He would tell John later and look around himself during his next travels. He was sure they could find a good book for the boy, if not at the store, there was still plenty of places they could steal it from.

Arthur left the road and switched it for the river bank, looking for a good place for fishing. Any place would do, Dakota River was full of fish, but those were spots perfect for one person, not two, out of which one was a small kid who wouldn’t be entertained with fishing for too long. If Arthur wanted to catch something, he needed to make sure Jack would have a place to play away from the water so he couldn’t scare fish.

He finally found one, not far from the road but enough to not be interrupted by travelers. There was also a good spot for Snowstorm to eat while they would be fishing, and Jack would have a place to run or do something else if he wished. 

“Alright, this looks as good a spot as any,” he announced and put Jack on the ground. Thankfully Snowstorm wasn’t a big horse, John had always more problem getting Jack off Old Boy while still sitting in the saddle.

Jack took his fishing rod when Arthur passed it to him. The boy waited patiently by the horse for Arthur to get down too.

“Where should we stand, Daddy?” he asked the moment Arthur put his feet on the ground.

“Down by the shore.” Arthur took his fishing rod from the saddle and nodded towards the river. “Come on, follow me.”

Jumping every other step, Jack followed until they arrived at the shore, standing in the shallow water.

“First we need some bait.” Jack watched his father taking out a bait from the satchel. “I’m gonna use some cheese.”

“Cheese?” he asked confused.

“Smellier the better,” Arthur explained and shared his piece so Jack could put it on the hook.

For the next few minutes, Arthur explained his son how to fish. Jack was interested and listened to everything, repeating his Daddy’s moves when it was his turn to cast the bait. Arthur felt proud seeing him learning new skill, even when Jack got bored pretty quickly as nothing new happened for couple of minutes and they were just standing, waiting for a fish to catch the bait.

“Can I take a break from fishing?” the boy asked eventually, looking at Arthur pleadingly. “I want to make something.”

He wasn’t surprised by that question, he couldn’t expect from a child to stand in one place for hours. At least Jack still learned something today and one day maybe he would even like fishing. Arthur was definitely up to taking him again, with John this time. They deserved some family time, and John loved to fish so Arthur would still have a company if Jack would get bored again.

“Okay. Just stay close to me.”

“Okay.” Jack nodded and pulled the hook out of the water. “I’m gonna pick some of those red flowers. I’ll be right back.”

Arthur looked in the direction that Jack went. There were, in fact, flowers growing there. After identifying them and making sure they weren’t poisonous, he let himself relax. Snowstorm was grazing right by Jack side so if any dangerous animal would come close, she would warn them first.

Nothing happened for another couple of minutes but Arthur was still enjoying himself. Fishing always relaxed him, it wasn’t any different this time. He wasn’t even feeling bad anymore about his nap being interrupted, this was just as good. The sun was shining, water was soothing with its calm sound, birds were chirping, Snowstorm was happily snorting from time to time and Jack was humming while working on something with his yarrow flowers. Could this day get any better?

Apparently, it could, because when he thought about it, the fish took the bait.

“Got ya’!”

“You caught a fish, Daddy!” Jack cheered and left his flowers to get closer and watch.

“I didn’t caught it yet, I need to get it out of the water first,” Arthur explained while reeling the fish out.

“Is it a big one?” Jack asked and stepped deeper into the water to have a better look on a fish twisting on the hook.

“Back on the, shore, Jack.” John would kill him if Jack fell into the water, even if nothing would happen to him.

The fight wasn’t long, the fish was small, it tired quickly and soon enough he had it in his hand. 

“Look, Jack, it’s a chain pickerel.” He showed the fish to his son, who watched it wriggling in awe. “It’s almost as small as you!”

“Are we going to keep it? We could give it to Mr. Pearson,” Jack suggested and touched the fish.

“We should really throw these smaller ones back, give ‘em a chance to grow up a bit,” Arthur explained and did just that. Pickerel swam away as fast as it could when it was back in the water.

Jack got back to his flowers, Arthur put another bait on the hook and waiting continued. That wasn’t how he imagined this day to go but he wasn’t complaining, he still got his relax time and Jack wasn’t bored. For Arthur, that was a success, even if he didn’t caught anything, he wasn’t even trying that hard, not when he only had cheese to use as bait. Sometimes fishing wasn’t even about catching something, but about putting a racing mind at peace. Nothing could clean up a mess inside one’s head better than connecting to nature, and standing on the shore, waiting for a fish to get the bait, sometimes even for hours, was one of the ways to do so. 

“Hey, look at this.”

Arthur looked at Jack who was showing him something he made.

“At what?”

He reeled the line and approached his son, crouching near him.

“This necklace I made.”

“Necklace?”

It looked like a necklace after close inspection. Jack tied couple of flowers together in a big circle, big enough for a horse which probably wasn’t his intention but he put a lot of effort into it and it looked really impressive. Who knows, maybe it was for a horse?

“For Pa.”

Maybe not.

“Sure”

Arthur smiled fondly at his son, so proud of his little necklace. This kid was too cute sometimes. 

“What a fine young man.” Arthur swirled around and stood high, already placing his body in front of Jack. Two man arrived, he didn’t even hear their horses. “And in such complex circumstances. Arthur, isn’t it? Arthur Morgan. And it must be your son.”

How did they knew his name? What were they looking here?

“Who are you?” he asked suspiciously and looked back for a moment to make sure Jack was still behind him.

“Yes, Arthur Morgan… Van der Linde most trusted associate.” The man that was speaking turned to his partner who held a gun. Arthur kept a hand near his own revolver, ready to draw if the barrel of the gun would be even close to being pointed at him and Jack. “You’ve read the files, typical case. Orphaned street kid seduced by that maniac’s silver tongue and matures into a degenerate murderer. Agent Milton. Agent Ross. Pinkerton Detective Agency seconded to United States Government.” Arthur didn’t show how much it made him nervous. “Nice to finally meet. We know a lot about you.”

He didn’t like how this situation was unfolding. He should’ve been more careful, listening to the environment. If this was anyone else, someone trying to kill him, he would’ve been be dead already. How did he not heard the horses?

“Do you?”

“You’re a wanted man, Mr. Morgan. There’s five thousand dollars for your head alone.”

“Five thousand dollars? For me?” Arthur smirked to hide how much the whole meeting was disturbing him. “Can I turn myself in?”

“We want Van der Linde.”

“Old Dutch? I haven’t seen him for months,” he lied swiftly, without any hesitation. He could feel Jack clutching to his jacket. He wished he could turn to him and assure him everything would be fine but he didn’t want to take his eyes of those two.

“That’s so? Because I heard… that a man fitting his description robbed a train, belonging to Leviticus Cornwall up near Granit Pass,” Agent Milton informed, seeing right through his lies.

“Oh, ain’t that a little… old fashioned nowadays?” he asked nervously.

“Apparently not.” Milton stepped closer, he wasn’t holding a gun like Ross who wasn’t even pointing it at anyone, but Arthur still didn’t like how close the alpha was getting. “Listen, this is my offer, Mr. Morgan. Bring in Van der Linde and you have my word, you won’t swing and you can live a peaceful life with your son and mate.”

How the hell did that agent knew so much about him? He knew about Jack, and he wasn’t even close enough to smell the similar scents. He knew about John but most of the time him and Arthur hid their mating marks.

“Oh, I ain’t gonna swing anyways, Agent um… Milton.” He hated having that conversation when Jack was present to hear all of this. The boy didn’t yet understand what his fathers were doing for living, and he certainly didn’t understand why would anyone want to kill them. Those agent were scaring his son, practically threatening him while he had nothing to do with this. “You see, I haven’t done anything wrong, aside from not play the games to your rule.”

“Spare me the philosophy lesson,” Milton asked and rolled his eyes. “I’ve already heard it, from Mac Callander.”

Arthur stared at the agent surprised.

“Mac Callander?”

So he was alive? They could save him like they saved Sean.

“He was pretty shot up by the time I got to him so really it was more of a mercy killing,” Milton said almost smugly. “Slow, but merciful.”

Arthur clenched his fists, feeling anger flaring up inside him. He liked Mac, he was a little crazy, but he was a great friend, great gunslinger, he could always count on him and his brother, they were both loyal and valuable members of the gang. They didn’t deserve what happened to them, being shot down like an animal.

And Milton was telling all of this in front of a child. They couldn’t just get Arthur alone? They had to find him when he had a innocent boy with him and scare him in the process. What kind of alpha threatens another one when they’re with child?

Arthur felt how Jack hid his face in his jacket, how he trembled slightly. That made him furious even more than he already was, a loud growl left his throat and he didn’t even try to stop it. Angrily, he tossed his fishing rod to the ground. Ross pointed his gun at him immediately but Arthur wasn’t afraid he would shot. They needed him alive, but it still scared Jack who whimpered frightened and clutched to his father’s back even more.

“You enjoy being a rich man’s toy do you?” he snarled at Milton and took a step towards him while still making sure that Jack stayed safe behind his back.

“I enjoy society, flaws and all,” Milton explained. He became angry himself and released a growl in response to Arthur’s own. “You people venerate savagery, and you’ll die savagely. All of you!”

Arthur huffed like a angry bull, his jaw started to hurt from all the clenching but he was too furious to relax. This bastard was once again threatening his family, not only John and Jack, but the whole gang. He thought of them as savages? They would show him how savage they could be.

“Oh, we’re all gonna to die, Agent,” he pointed out surprisingly calm. 

“Some of us sooner than others,” Milton warned and took a step back. “Good day, Mr. Morgan.”

They were leaving, good. Arthur wasn’t sure it would remain just a civilized conversation if it continued a little longer.

“Goodbye.”

“Enjoy your fishing, kid,” Ross finally spoke up. Arthur put his hand near holster in warning. “While you still can.”

Both alpha mounted their horses and rode off, leaving them alone. Arthur was still tense even when they disappeared from his sight. 

“Who are they?” Jack asked from behind him and unsurely left his little hiding spot.

“No one to worry about, no one at all,” he assured. He didn’t want Jack to worry, he was already shook to his boots which Arthur could feel when he put his hands on the boy’s head and arm, and nudged him towards the spot he was sitting before agents interrupted them. “Come on, let’s pick up your things and get home.”

Arthur watched the are carefully while Jack picked up his fishing rod and necklace. He doubted Pinkertons were still here but he wasn’t going to risk it.

“Pa should be home already,” he said to Jack while helping him on the horse. “Let’s say hi to him.”

“Why did you lie about where Uncle Dutch is?” Jack asked when they headed towards the camp, this time riding faster than when they’re going to the river. Arthur wanted Jack safe in the camp as soon as possible. The whole gang could protect him better than just him.

“Because… well because those are disagreeable man and I don’t want them to hurt him,” he explained carefully to not scare the kid more.

“What did they mean about Mac? Is he in jail?”

Bless this child innocent.

“No, I don’t thinks so,” he answered sadly. Jack looked at him curiously. “I hope he’s just fine where he is. Like I said, don’t worry about them.” He really didn’t want Jack to think about those agents. Arthur was going to make sure the boy wouldn’t meet them ever again. “World is full of disagreeable man, that’s why you have me, Pa and rest of the gang. To protect you from folks like them. Now how about that necklace you made, you still got it, right?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

Jack showed the necklace, still intact.

“Good. Where did you get the idea to made one anyway?”

Jack liked flowers, sure, but Arthur never saw him making anything with them. Usually he just picked them up, smelled them and tossed them back on the ground.

“Micah said omegas like flowers,” he explained proudly while Arthur had a strong need to groan in irritation. He didn’t do so only because of Jack.

“I thought we talked about not taking advices from Micah,” he reminded his son. Last time Micah tried to ‘educate’ Jack on omegas, John punched the bastard afterward. Arthur wanted to punch him himself but someone had to explain his son why what Micah had said was stupid and untrue.

Jack lowered his head sadly.

“So Pa won’t like the necklace?”

He said it so quiet Arthur barely heard him over Snowstorm’s hooves’ beats.

“Well, Pa doesn’t really like flowers but I’m sure he’ll like the necklace. It’s a gift from you after all.”

John wasn’t the type of father to disappoint his kid. It didn’t really matter if he liked flowers or not, just because Jack made it would be enough reason to make him happy about it.

That cheered Jack up and he actually looked excited again about giving John his gift. Arthur decided to change the subject before the boy could start doubting himself again. 

“So, do you like fishing?”

Jack didn’t really do much, but surely there was a thing or two he got to like about this short trip.

“It was… okay, I think. It’s a lot of waiting around.”

Arthur snorted.

“It is,” he agreed and held Jack tight when Snowstorm started climbing up the hill. Soon enough they were passing by Lenny again and they arrived in the camp. Old Boy was resting with other horses and John was waiting for them at the table reading a newspaper he most likely brought for Hosea while he was in town. When he noticed their arrival, he smiled widely and approached them.

“There are my fisherman,” he welcomed them before Arthur even put Jack on the ground. Hosea must’ve told him where they went. “How was it?”

“We caught a fish,” Jack informed him proudly and then held his gift above his head so his Pa could see it better. “And I made you this necklace.”

John was just impressed as Arthur when he saw the necklace.

“Ain’t that pretty,” he noticed and ruffled Jack’s hair. “Thank you, Jack. Can you help me put it on?”

Jack nodded and John crouched to his level so the boy could put the necklace around his neck. Arthur watched this scene fondly, feeling how the love for his family was settling in his chest and around his heart. John looked at him briefly over Jack’s head and smiled before he focused on their son again, who was practically beaming when his gift was well received. 

“I made it because I love you.”

Jack wrapped his arms around John’s neck and hugged tight.

“Aww, I love you too, little man.” John hugged back and picked their son up. 

“So I’m not loved anymore, is that the message?”

Arthur took this moment to step in. Jack turned his head towards him, his eyes big with shock.

“I love you too, Daddy!” he swore and wriggled in John’s arms so much he had no other choice but to let the boy go. Jack run up to Arthur and clung to his leg. “I’ll make you a necklace too!”

Arthur chuckled and patted the boy on the head.

“How about you do this right now?” he asked and crouched. “There are flowers growing around the camp. Pa and I need to talk with Uncle Dutch.”

John looked at him confused but Arthur just shook his head. Later.

“Okay.”

Jack run away before they could tell him to be careful.

“Sean, keep an eye on him,” John asked the Irish sitting on a bay of hay neat horses.

“Why me?” Sean protested. 

“Just stay with him for few minutes, even you can handle something that easy,” Arthur joined and Sean sighed.

“Oh, fine. I’ll be your babysitter,” he complained before following Jack.

“What’s going on?” John wanted to know immediately when they were left alone.

“We met some folks by the river. I explain everything when we get to Dutch.”

Nervous, John followed him. Dutch was in his tent as always, reading a book(as always) when Arthur practically rushed in.

“We got a problem,” he informed the leader right away. John stood at the entrance, leaning against the pole there.

“What?”

Arthur made sure nobody else was listening before he continued. He didn’t want to cause panic among other gang members.

“I just met some guy out near river. A feller named, erm… Milton and, I don’t remember the other feller’s name.” It came back to him after a second or two. “Ross. Milton and Ross.”

“And?”

Dutch didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. John didn’t either, but he was waiting patiently for Arthur to explain everything.

“And they are employees of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.” The reveal made Dutch got up. Arthur continued, more frantically than just a moment ago. “And they know about the train and they know we’re here.”

Usually he was more calm but usually their enemies didn’t know about Jack and where to look for them.

“Were you followed back here?” Dutch demanded angrily and walked out of the tent. Arthur raised his hands.

“No, they know we’re near here and they want you Dutch.” Arthur didn’t follow the older man and stopped near John who looked as nervous as him right now. They both looked at each other worried. “They offered me my freedom in exchange they did.”

“Why didn’t you take it?”

Arthur snorted unamused laugh and John rolled his eyes at that.

“Huh, very funny.”

This was everything Dutch was afraid of ever since Arthur and John mated. A mate is always more important than anyone else, Arthur would always chose John over Dutch, just like John would always chose him. Being mated, they couldn’t be as loyal to him as before mating. Dutch was almost expecting them to betray him at some point. This was the perfect opportunity, but nor Arthur, nor John, was planning on betraying the gang. They made their relationship and being part of the gang work so far, it was never a problem for them, it wasn’t going to change now.

“Well what do we do now?”

“I say we do nothing. Just yet.”

“They almost found us and we do nothing?” John asked surprised. He uncrossed his arms and stepped closer to Dutch, keeping his voice low. “If we stay here, they’re going to kill us.”

“They’re just trying to scare us into doing something stupid,” Dutch informed him but John wasn’t convinced. Neither was Arthur. It did seemed like a simple threat, but he met Milton and his partner too close to the camp to think it was just coincident. Even if they weren’t sure before if they were looking in the right place, they were now. No parent, especially the one living with the gang and knowing about how dangerous long trips can be, would take their child for a longer ride.

“We have turned a corner, we survived them mountains,” Dutch kept saying. “We just need to stay calm.”

They didn’t like that strategy but they had to trust their leader, their father. Dutch never made them doubt in him, they couldn’t start that now.

The alpha returned to his tent, John and Arthur went to theirs.

“I don’t like it,” omega admitted. “Pinkertons this close to the camp? We should move till they don’t know where we are exactly.”

“You heard Dutch.”

“Yeah I heard him,” John snapped angrily. “I know where is he coming from, but I’m still nervous about it.”

“Me too,” Arthur agreed and wrapped an arm around his mate, nuzzling into his cheek. John purred to calm himself. “I was with Jack when they showed up. Bastards talked about how they tortured Mac and Jack heard all that.”

John’s purr was interrupted by a growl.

“He must’ve been scared,” he noticed, his chest still rumbling with a growl.

“He was,” Arthur confirmed. “I don’t think he understood what they were talking but it was still scary for him.”

“And they know he exists,” John pointed out. “They can use him as their leverage.”

This was what he was scared the most of. Milton didn’t used Jack to get what he wanted but he could always do that in the future. He already offered Arthur his freedom and a safe life for Jack. It didn’t worked, next time, he could take a different approach and still promise safety for the boy, but this time by not pulling the trigger of the gun he would point at his head.

Arthur wasn’t sure if this bastard wouldn’t kill a child and he wasn’t willing to test this.

“We’ll keep him in the camp,” Arthur decided. “No more trips outside like today. This way Pinkertons won’t have a chance to grab him. He’ll be safe in the camp, we can deal with the rest.”

“I hope so.” John sighed and rubbed his face. “I don’t know what I’ll do if anything happen to him.”

“I know. We‘ll kill any son of a bitch that decided to lay a hand on him.”

That made John chuckle. That wasn’t Arthur’s intention, he was being serious but he was glad he cheered up his mate.

“Now that’s the plan.”

John kissed him soundly, Arthur kissed back right away, cupping his mate’s face in his hands while omega’s palms found their way to his hips and brought him closer. They were purring so loudly they both didn’t hear quick steps outside the tent, the happy giggle or the flaps being opened. Next thing they knew a small body collided with theirs and caused them to end the kiss surprised. 

“Gross,” Jack commented when they looked down at him.

“I left you for five seconds and you already have hands in each other’s breeches,” Sean chimed in from the entrance, a wolfish grin on his face. “Get a room, will ya?”

John and Arthur stepped away from each other, with Jack standing between them and looking from one to another as he was waiting for explanation.

“We were in our tent, get lost, you Irish bastard.”

“Love you too, John Marston. But don’t expect me to suck your face because of that like Arthur was doing.”

Cackling like a madman, Sean left them alone, closing the flaps of the tent behind him. John growled after him with irritation while Arthur counted from ten to one to calm himself. One day he was going to kill that little cockroach. 

“Why you rushed in here for, Jack?” John asked their son. The boy grinned and turned to Arthur, presenting him another necklace made of flowers.

“I made you a necklace too!” he informed. It was made from white flowers, not red like John’s. “So you can know I love you like Pa.”

“I’m really relieved you do,” Arthur amused him and crouched so Jack could put the necklace on him. “Looks good. What do you think, Johnny?”

“We match now,” omega noticed with a fond smile. Every time he was seeing it, Arthur could swore he was falling more in love with this man.

“Thank you, Jack, that’s a really pretty necklace,” he told the boy and kissed him on the forehead. 

Jack hugged him in return and it didn’t seem like he was planning on letting go anytime soon, but then Hosea entered the tent.

“Alright, Jack, time to see what you read today,” the old alpha informed in a stern voice. 

“But I didn’t read anything,” Jack reminded him panicked.

“You can thank your father for that,” Hosea pointed out, looking at Arthur with disapproval again. John was biting his lip not to laugh. “Come on, boy.”

Dragging his feet, Jack followed Hosea and John and Arthur were left alone.

“Where was we?” John asked suggestively. Arthur chuckled and dragged him towards their bed.

They only had time and privacy to tussle in the sheet for a few minutes but that was enough for now. 

Jack spend rest of the day on his reading lessons he avoided earlier. Hosea only released him in time for dinner. The boy joined them by the table where there was already a steaming bowl full of stew waiting for him. The family was eating peacefully, listening to Jack talking about what he learned today, when Micah arrived.

Alpha left this morning, supposedly for a job but Arthur wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out he was out drinking again. Both he and John watched him on his way from the horse to a box with funds.

“Watch and learn, ladies and gentlemen!” Micah announced loudly to the whole camp. “While you’ve been sitting on your asses all day, I brought us some money. A whole hundred, to be exact.”

Micah made sure everyone was watching him before he pulled out the money and placed it in the box. Someone murmured “what a prick” under their breath, probably Sean, others rolled his eyes or snickered, hiding it behind their hands to not bring Micah attention on themselves.

“Good job, my boy.”

Dutch was the only one who praised him for bringing money. Micah grinned pleased and went to grab something to eat, telling how he deserved a big pile of food for working whole day. Unfortunately, he need to pass their table on his way there.

“Nice flowers, Marston,” Micah commented when he noticed the necklace. “I see Jack took my advice to heart.”

Arthur never told John the idea for the necklace came from Micah. He wanted to avoid breaking that bastard’s nose like it happened last time.

Micah was awaiting the expected reaction, he liked making other people angry and while John wasn’t usually an easy target to anger, when he was really pissed, there was no one else in the camp that could match him then and Micah loved it. Just like defusing the fight right away when he could notice John being ready to break every bone in his body. Coward.

John turned to Micah like he was ready to insult him and tell him once again to stay away from their son, but instead omega only smiled cheekily. Arthur was surprised but not as surprised as Micah, whose smug smile fell from his face.

“That was a good idea, Micah,” John told him and admired his necklace. Flowers were already a little crushed and less lively that at the beginning(probably due to their previous fun in bed) but they were still pretty. “I really like it, it looks good and it was such a cute gift from my son. What do you say, Arthur? How do I look?”

“Like the prettiest omega in the west.” He wasn’t even lying. 

“Stop it, I’m blushing,” John laughed and he actually got little reddish on the cheeks. “Besides, we’re in the east.”

“Looks like you’re the beauty of the both coasts then,” Arthur noticed and smiled charmingly at his mate. He definitely blushed now, covering the scars with shame by pretending to prop his head on the hand.

They forgot about Micah completely, but not about Jack who put his tongue out in disgust.

“You’re not so bad yourself. The necklace suits you.”

Micah only now noticed the similar necklace around Arthur’s neck and sneered. Arthur and John turned away from each other and looked at him, their little moment ruined.

“Really Morgan? A mating bite from an omega and now flowers?” Micah shook his head in disbelief. “Didn’t know it was possible to fall so low.”

“I know, you must’ve been very shocked when you finally hit the bottom,” Arthur smirked. He could practically see smoke coming from Micah’s ears. 

“Hilarious,” the alpha huffed. “I leave you princesses. I don’t want to catch something from you, Morgan.”

“You can’t catch common sense from someone, Micah,” John informed him when alpha was leaving. “What a piece of shit. Why did you broke him out of jail again?”

“Dutch forced me,” he admitted grumpily. He regretted it every day. To think there were days when he believed he could like Micah one day.

“Well, no one would have blamed you if anything happened to him on the way back,” John pointed out and flashed a devilish smile. “Friendly fire happens. And there is so many bears around Strawberry.” Arthur laughed.

“Dutch should’ve send you instead of me.”

“He knew what I would do, he knew what he was doing.”

They both laughed this time and grabbed their bottle of beers.

“Well, let’s hope he’ll get caught again sometime soon and you’ll be the one to bust him out.”

“Cheers to that.”

Bottles clanged against another and the mated pair took their sips of beer.

Next night, when they robbed a train with Charles and uninvited Sean, Arthur and John still proudly wore their necklaces.


End file.
